Rajasthan leader of Opposition and former home minister Gulab Chand Kataria and three other accused in Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case got anticipatory bail from a Mumbai court on Friday.

The three other accused are Andhra Pradesh Indian Police Service officer N Balasubramaniam,
police inspector Shrinivas Rao and Rajasthan based RK Marbles director Vimal Patni.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had named Kataria, Patni and two other accused in its supplementary charge sheet. Kataria is accused of approaching his counterpart Amit Shah for eliminating Sohrabuddin at the behest of the marble lobby in Rajasthan.

Kataria is the second high-profile politician to be named in the case after Shah. Kataria, presently Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan, was the state's home minister at the time of killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi and Tulsiram Prajapati.

He has been charged for murder, destruction of evidence, abduction, and criminal conspiracy among other serious IPC sections. The CBI is convinced that he played a direct role in hatching the conspiracy to eliminate Sohrabuddin.

Sohrabuddin was killed on November 25, 2005 after he demanded Rs. 24 crore from Patni who sought Kataria's help in view of the threat, the CBI charge sheet mentions.

His wife, Kauser Bi was killed a few days later. Tulsi Prajapati, a witness to the Sohrabuddin killing, was killed in Banaskantha in Gujarat in 2006 when he was being taken by police from Jaipur to Ahmedabad.